Main menu

Post navigation

NYC rules to require film permits for… well… everybody

It’s always nice with government tries to control how art is produced. Here in NYC Mayor Bloomberg has decided that everyone who plans to film in a public place should get a film permit (this would be for two or more people in an area with a camera for more than 30 minutes, or for two or more people in an area with a tripod for 10 minutes).
Guerilla filmmaking is one of the fastest growing and exciting artforms out there today. YouTube gives a wider audience to these small filmmakers than any format in history, and their ability to shoot on the run with very little budget forces their creativity and technique in interesting ways. To demand that they get the same license required of a “Law & Order” shoot is ridiculous. I’ve been a part of guerilla filmmaking. It’s not obtrusive and the public is so unaware of its existence that there is no public support for these new rules. L&O on the other hand shuts down entire streets for hours at a time. I used to live in a part of Brooklyn where “The Squid and the Whale” and “War of the Worlds” were partially shot. Entire streets were closed off for days. A show called “Stella” filmed around the corner from me one afternoon inside a building and their trucks blocked two streets for four hours. Now they want three guys with a handheld camera and a script written on a napkin to get the same permit and shell out the same insurance forms as the big guys?

I’m still trying to picture what guerilla filmmaking entails. In my mind, I picture it something like Bowfinger’s production of Chubby Rain–lots of hiding in shrubbery and covert filming of dialogue.
Anyway, whatever it is, damn The Man for trying to stifle it.